Chennai:
Sadiq Batcha, known for his close ties to former Telecom Minister A Raja, died due to asphyxia, a doctor who conducted his post-mortem said today. Mr Batcha, a businessman from Tamil Nadu, was found hanging in his home in Chennai yesterday afternoon. He allegedly committed suicide.
"The death was caused due to asphyxia but the cause of that cannot be confirmed till the forensic report is received... We cannot say now whether it was suicide or murder...the report will be ready in two weeks" said Dr V Dekal.
Mr Batcha's body has been handed over to his family. The final rites will take place in his hometown Perambalur.
Off the record, Mr Batcha's brothers ruled out foul play in his death. They told NDTV that he was under tremendous psychological trauma since his questioning by the CBI on the 2G scam probe. The corresponding negative publicity by the media, they said, was too much for him to handle.
Meanwhile, in Chennai, Opposition leader Jayalalithaa blamed Mr Raja's party, the DMK, for his death. She also said that Mr Raja should be provided with special security. "Otherwise he could also go the Sadiq Batcha way," she said in a press release.
(Read: 'Raja could go the Batcha way:' Jayalalithaa)In a suicide note left behind, Mr Batcha wrote that he blamed nobody for his death, but that he was embarrassed by "raids and media limelight over the 2G spectrum scam." He also wrote that Mr Raja and his wife "are good people."
The probe into Mr Batcha's alleged suicide has now been transferred to the CBI by the Tamil Nadu government.
Mr Batcha, who was 47, had been interrogated twice in the last few weeks about the 2G spectrum scam, mainly because the company he headed was believed to be a front for the massive bribes that were allegedly paid to Mr Raja in return for the licences that he gave at baffling bargains to companies in 2008.
(2G scam: Raja forged key documents)Mr Batcha was the Managing Director of Green House, a real estate company which is owned and operated partially by Mr Raja's family. The former minister's brother is a primary investor and Mr Raja's wife serves as the firm's legal advisor.
The company was set up in 2008 with a capital of Rs. one core. Its meteoric rise to a Rs. 600-crore company may have been funded, investigators believe, by the money that Mr Raja made illicitly during his term as Telecom Minister.